mcbain, ed [aka evan hunter] - [ss] one down [v1 0]

8/14/2019 McBain, Ed [aka Evan Hunter] - [SS] One Down [v1 0]

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mcbain-ed-aka-evan-hunter-ss-one-down-v1-0 1/4

One Down

By Ed McBain [aka Evan Hunter]Scanned & Proofed By MadMaxAU

* * * *

She leaned back against the cushions of the bed, and there was that lazy,

contented smile on her face as she took a drag on her cigarette. The

smoke spiralled around her face, and she closed her eyes sleepily. I

remembered how I had once liked that sleepy look of hers. I did not like

it now.

‘It’s good when you’re home, Ben,’ she said.

‘Uh-huh,’ I murmured. I took a cigarette from the box on the night

table, lighted it, and blew out a stream of smoke.

‘Yes, yes, it’s really good.’ She drew on her cigarette, and I

watched the heave of her breasts, somehow no longer terribly interested.

‘I hate your job,’ she said suddenly.

‘Do you?’

‘Yes,’ she said, pouting. ‘It’s like a ... a wall between us. When

you’re gone, I sit here and just curse your job and pray that you’ll be

home again soon. I hate it, Ben. I really do.’

‘Well,’ I said drily, ‘we have to eat, you know.’

‘Couldn’t you get another job?’ she asked. It was only about the

hundredth time she’d asked that same question.

‘I suppose,’ I said wearily.

‘Then why don’t you?’ She sat up suddenly. ‘Why don’t you, Ben?’

‘I like travelling,’ I said. I was so tired of this, so damned tired of the same thing every time I was here. All I could think of now was what I



had to do. I wanted to do it and get it over with.

She grinned coyly. ‘Do you miss me when you’re on the road?’

‘Sure,’ I said.

She cupped her hands behind my neck and trailed her lips across

my jaw line. I felt nothing.

‘Very much?’

She kissed my ear, shivered a little, and came closer to me.

‘Yes, I miss you very much,’ I said.

She drew away from me suddenly. ‘Do you like the house, Ben? I

did just what you said. I moved out of the apartment as soon as I got your

letter. You should have told me sooner, Ben. I had no idea you didn’t like

the city.’

‘The neighbours were too snoopy,’ I said. ‘This is better. Out in the

country like this.’

‘But it’s so lonely. I’ve been here a week already, and I don’t know

a soul yet.’ She giggled. ‘There’s hardly a soul to know.’

‘Good,’ I said.

‘Good?’ Her face grew puzzled. ‘What do you mean, Ben?’

‘Adele,’ I told her, ‘you talk too much.’

I pulled her face to mine and clamped my mouth onto hers, just toshut her up. She brought her arms up around my neck immediately,

tightening them there, bringing her body close to mine. I tried to move

her away from me gently, but my arms were full of her, and her lips were

moist and eager. Her eyes closed tightly, and I sighed inwardly and

listened to the lonely chirp of the crickets outside the window.

‘Do you love me?’ she asked later.

‘Yes.’



‘Really, Ben? Really and truly?’

‘Really and truly.’

‘How much do you love me?’

‘A whole lot, Adele.’

‘But do you . . . where are you going, Ben?’

‘Something I want to get from my jacket.’

‘Oh, all right.’ She stopped talking, thinking for a moment. ‘Ben, if

you had to do it all over again, would you marry me? Would you stillchoose me as your wife?’

‘Of course.’ I walked to the closet and opened the door. I knew just

where I’d left it. In the righthand jacket pocket.

‘What is it you’re getting, Ben? A present?’ She sat up against the

pillows again. ‘Is it a present for me?’

‘In a way,’ I said. I closed my fist around it and turned abruptly.

Her eyes opened wide.

‘Ben! A gun. What . . . what are you doing with a gun?’

I didn’t answer. I grinned, and saw something in my eyes, and her

mouth went slack.

‘Ben, no!’ she said.

‘Yes, Adele.’

‘Ben, I’m your wife. Ben, you’re joking. Tell me you’re joking.’

‘No, Adele, I’m quite serious.’

She swung her legs over the side of the bed, the covers snatching at

the thin material of her gown, pulling it over her thighs.

‘Ben, why? Why are you . . . Ben, please. Please!’



She was cringing against the wall now, her eyes saucered with fear.

I raised the gun.

‘Ben!’

I fired twice, and both bullets caught her over her heart, I watched

the blood appear on the front of her gown, like red mud slung at a clean,

white wall. She toppled forward suddenly, her eyes blank. I put the gun

away, dressed, and packed my suitcase.

* * * *

It took me two days to get there. I opened the screen door and walkedinto the kitchen. There was the smell of meat and potatoes frying, a smell

I had come to dislike intensely. The radio was blaring, the way it always

was when I arrived. I grimaced.

‘Anybody home?’ I called.

‘Ben?’ Her voice was surprised, anxious. ‘Is that you, Ben?’

‘Hello, Betty,’ I said tonelessly. She rushed to the front door and

threw herself into my arms. Her hair was in curlers, and she smelled of

frying fat.

‘Ben, Ben darling, you’re back. Oh Ben, how I missed you.’

‘Did you?’

‘Ben, let me look at you.’ She held me away from her and then

lifted her face and took my mouth hungrily. I could still smell the frying

fat aroma.

I pushed her away from me gently. ‘Hey,’ I said, ‘cut it out. Way

you’re behaving, people would never guess we’ve been married for three

years already.’

She sighed deeply. ‘You know, Ben,’ she said, ‘I hate your job.’

* * * *

mcbain, ed [aka evan hunter] - [ss] one down [v1 0]

Documents